Kingdom Hearts: The Light Within
by writer229
Summary: When Kairi is taken to the End of the World and transported to Traverse Town, she begins her quest to find and aid Sora and King Mickey.
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1: A Mysterious Vision  
  
" The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. "  
  
--Robert Frost, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening  
  
Kairi sighed as the sun started slowly setting in the west. She was lying down on the beach, having had another fitful nightmare about Sora. A loud argument started as Wakka and Tidus sparred, as usual. It seemed like only yesterday they had been building that raft to see and visit other world. How ironic it had been when other worlds had found them!  
  
All of that was over. After the revelation that she was a princess of heart, she went to Hollow Bastion, to help the other princesses of heart. They arranged for the return of its occupants, and the removal and rebuilding of the Heartless made portions of the castle. Leon helped out, but before long, he jumped into a ship and headed to the Balamb Garden to train and become a SeeD member. Selphie went with him too, but decided to go to Trabia Garden first. Tidus and Wakka dreamed of traveling to Spira, but were returned to Destiny Islands before they could journey there. Cloud and Aerith dated for awhile, and ended up getting married. They now track down the ever-elusive Sephiroth. Their journey has lead them to a world with Mako reactors, though they never mentioned the name.  
  
And Kairi dreamed of visiting other worlds, meeting new people, and finding Sora. Riku and King Mickey were also on her mind, but she never thought about the role they still had to play yet. She slowly got up, brushed herself off, and walked down the beach.  
  
"Look out man!" Wakka cried. A Blitzball streaked toward her as Wakka missed his target. She ducked down, and kicked it back to him, hitting him square in the face.  
  
"Good...kick...man..." he gasped. Birds flew around his head as he sat there, dazed. Tidus gaped in awe. That had been some move! He would tweak it a bit, make it able to be done in water, and would name it Sphere Shot.  
  
As she walked on, she noticed their Secret Place tucked away in the underbrush, much like a hidden Easter Egg. She climbed in and walked around the cave. Drawings of Chocobos...Donald and his staff...even a castle! As if destiny had foreshadowed it. She came to their portraits and started weeping. She missed Sora so much! Words couldn't express her anguish. His mom was in terrible shape too, having lost her son. And now it had been three years since they had parted. Three years since their anguish had started.  
  
She walked out into the twilight of the evening, the warm night air puffing around her. She headed toward the cove. A raft stood there. She had designed it after the one they had made long before. It was how she got home now. She climbed aboard, and pushed off, letting the current take her back to the mainland. She lied down on the deck of the raft, closed her eyes, and went into a fitful sleep.  
  
"Sora!" she yelled. He was running away from her, with Donald and Goofy by his side. "Wait!" she cried again, running after them. As they rounded a bend, she sighed with relief. They weren't running from her, but chasing Pluto the dog. She sprinted ahead, and jumped in Pluto's way. "Aha!"  
  
But Pluto simply ran right through her, as though she was ghost, as did Sora and everyone else. Sora jumped and tackled Pluto, wrestling a letter from his mouth. He opened it and read it aloud.  
  
" 'To Sora, Donald, and Goofy. I know this journey has been hard on you, both physically and emotionally, especially you, Sora. But don't fret. Your hearts are all strong. Goofy, your heart is righteous. Donald, your heart is justice and vigor. And Sora, your heart is perseverance, purity, and above all, love. That's what made the Keyblade choose you over Riku in the end. And remember Sora. You are the one who will open the door to the light.' "  
  
"What do you suppose it means?" Sora asked as he folded the letter and place it in his pocket.  
  
"Who knows. Wait- remember what King Mickey said? 'There will always be a door to the light'? Does that mean you haven't opened it yet, there's more than one Kingdom Hearts, or that the door to the light is something completely different?"  
  
Sora was deep in thought when the ground beneath Kairi turned to water. She plummeted down and down, falling away from Sora and the gang. She stopped, facing an Ivory door, with elegant and intricately craved designs on it. It was so white and bright, it was as though it were made of pure white light. She looked away, the light hurting her eyes, wishing she knew where it was. A cold slap hit her face and she woke with a start.  
  
A cold wave of sea water had hit her face. She sputtered on it, coughing and wheezing. The sea grew violent as the storm grew, with the mainland nowhere in sight. She desperately groped for the mast, and clung to it for dear life. A loud boom, and the clouds parted, revealing a meteor shower or bright orbs.  
  
"Oh God no! It can't be happening!" She looked back and saw, where there was once just water, the End of the World, where the highway between worlds lay. She braced herself, closed her eyes, and waited, as her raft drew nearer. 


	2. Kingdom Hearts: The Light Within Chapte...

Chapter 2 : Old Friends  
  
Of unreflecting love;--then on the shore Of the wide world I stand alone, and think Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.  
  
--John Keats, When I Have Fears  
  
As the seconds seemed like hours, the raft approached the End of the World. With a lurching sideways pitch, Kairi slipped from her raft. Her arms flailed, hopelessly trying to grab the raft, but it slipped between her wet fingers. She fell down and away from the raft, who slowly lurched and fell over the side of the waterfall, caused by the End of the World.  
  
The raft came down like a missile, and before she could move, the raft came down and struck her in the head and stomach, and twirled away into the darkness. As the wind was knocked out of her, she could feel a bone break. She struggled to remain conscious and breathing, but a cold chill ran down her spine and she fainted in midair as she continued her long, headfirst fall.  
  
She opened her eyes to see a winding trail, on a small piece of land, with dark space on all sides. she saw an imprint of a door in the middle, with the winding, rising trail snaking away into the darkness. She ran along it, following the curves of the winding path. She reached the end and found herself on a strange platform, with another door. She reached to grab the handle when she woke up. She was still falling, but could see light beneath her. She was going to die! She closed her eyes as the wind howled around her. But she slowed down and landed with a painful, but not mortally wounding, thud. She opened her eyes. The image of a crashed cart was swimming in her vision. It slowly came into focus. She pulled herself up, her joints aching with pain. She clutched herside, feeling a broken rib or two, and found she was bleeding there. She tore a fragment of her shirt, and made a bandage for herself. Still clutching her side with one hand, she slowly walked forward. There were some stairs to the left, which she climbed, and found herself facing a door. She opened it, and saw Cid standing there, talking to a customer. The customer was wearing a hooded cloak, with some long white hair poking out. He and Cid glanced at her, Cid looked back at the customer, still talking, then stopped and did a double take.  
  
"What the hell? Kairi? How'd you get here? What's wrong?" he added, noticing the small patch of blood on her shirt.  
  
"I don't know. I think I broke a rib or two, and I'm bleeding. Her cheeks were red with pain, but she ignored it. She could get something done now that she found Cid.  
  
"Sit down, sit down. Mister, can I please talk to you later?"  
  
"Of course," he said, in a deep tone. Something about him was fishy. He stole one last look at her under his hood, with his eyes and face hidden, then took long purposeful strides to the door, a keychain dangling in his pocket. Kairi focused her attention back on Cid as she sat down. He took a potion, handed it to her, then sat down next to her. The potion burned her throat on the way down, but eased the pain considerably.  
  
"What happened? Start from the beginning." So she explained everything to him, talking about the island, the storm, and the End of the World.  
  
"And I have to get Sora and Riku back!" she concluded.  
  
"But how are we going to do that?"  
  
She thought for a moment, then smiled.  
  
"Talk to Geppetto! He told me a long time ago he would always keep a large quantity in case he ever needed them. He should still have them."  
  
"Assuming we get the craft built, how are we going to get to the other worlds?"  
  
"Remember, I got here from mine! The meteor shower! The Heartless broke the barrier again! We can get through! Here, come with me. I have an idea to prove it."  
  
She got up, helped by Cid, and limped outside.  
  
"See up there?" she asked, pointing to a dim star. "Watch."  
  
And they did. The star started flickering, got bright for a moment, then went out all together.  
  
"It went out! But how? That quickly? They must have a amassed an impossibly large army for that!"  
  
"But I was right! They're coming back. And we have to help Sora!" He looked at her, and sighed.  
  
"Alright, I'll go talk to Geppetto. I'll be right back." He walked away toward a store across the way, knocked, and entered.  
  
She stood there for a second, then walked back inside the shop. This time, as she entered, a large crystal caught her eye. She read the card underneath it, explaining it was synthesized, and climbed up the ladder into their workshop. A moogle stood there, and greeted her as she pulled herself up.  
  
'Welcome! What can we do for you? We are eager to help."  
  
"I need two Keyblades as fast as possible."  
  
Every moogle stopped at once and stared, flabergasted, at what she had said.  
  
"How do you know of the Keyblades?"  
  
"My friend Sora had one, and I must find and help him."  
  
"You know Honorable Sora? He got our business off the ground. You say he needs help? We'll give you a Keyblade in the morning, and we'll make another one for you and deliver at as soon as possible. Free of charge. We'll do anything to help repay him. And if you find him, please give him our regards." All of the moogles nodded in agreement, scurried off, and scurried back with a beautiful Kingdom Keyblade.  
  
"See you in the morning!" the moogle cried. She profusely thanked them for a minute, then climbed back down the ladder, her side absolutely splitting with pain from the effort of the climbing.  
  
"Kairi! Sit down. Drink this," he said, handing her another potion. "I don't want you doing anything physical for a week. I'll give you potions every hour for the week, it will help mend the bone. In the mean time, I got the Gummi blocks, so I'll start building the ship. When you're better, you can help too."  
  
She nodded, lied down, and went to sleep. She was shaken awake in what seemed like no time by a moogle. He was holding the other Keyblade, and looked extremely honored to get to bring it to her. She hugged it and thanked it. It looked simply exploding with happiness, and zoomed back upstairs to tell his friends. She grabbed the Keyblades in her hands. The felt light as a feather, though looked as though they should weigh a hundred pounds each. She swung them, and got a feel for how to use them when Cid called. She hid them, and went to help him.  
  
"Yes? Are we going to start building?" she asked eagerly.  
  
"Yes, we will. But first you need to know the properties and construction methods of Gummi blocks. First, they are light and very durable, ideal for plate armor. Next, they, when put together with another, make an air-tight seal that can never be broken. Great for ships. Third, ..." And he explained all about the properties and such about the blocks. The next day, she started drawing designs for a ship while Cid took inventory of the blocks. After the week was up, they started working together, carefully placing each block on the ship. After another week, the ship was ready. The found a nice area of Traverse Town to launch from, and placed the ship there. Kairi breathed in deeply, as she eagerly awaited the launch of her new adventure. 


End file.
